Transfer Update – Arsenal Close To Offloading Gervinho And Chamakh; Newcastle Close In On Remy

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Arsenal FC are close to offloading Gervinho and Chamakh, while Newcastle United director of football, Joe Kinnear, has confirmed that the club is in negotiation for Loic Remy and Darren Bent.

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Arsenal close to offloading Gervinho and Chamakh

Although the highly anticipated new signings are yet to be seen, Arsenal continues their success in offloading deadwood this summer. Gervinho and Chamakh are close to leaving the Emirates, Arsene Wenger has confirmed. Gervinho is on the verge of signing for Serie A club AS Roma for a fee £6.9 million. The Ivorian international joined the Gunners back in 2011 after a successful stint with French club Lille. But he failed to recreate that level of performance for the London club. Personally for him, the past two seasons has been highly inconsistent and disappointing. Gervinho fell down the pecking order after the new arrivals last season and although he was used as a striker by Arsene Wenger for few matches (a phase during which he did manage to score few important goals), Gervinho never managed to hold onto his place in the starting eleven. The 26-year-old made only 12 starts in the league last season and his future at the Emirates was always shrouded with speculations.

Gervinho arrived in Italy earlier today in order to complete his medical ahead of his move to Roma. He has expressed his delight at being able to complete his dream move.

“I’m very happy, it was my dream.” – Gervinho was quoted in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Earlier Arsene Wenger has confirmed that both Gervinho and Bendtner are close to securing there move away from the London club, although he added that Bendtner’s future remains in doubt.

“Gervinho we are at the moment close to an agreement with a club where he should go. Bendtner we are nowhere. At the moment he is completely here. Chamakh might go somewhere, it will be decided in the next 48 hours. [They are] permanent moves.” – The Arsenal manager was quoted in press.

Marouane Chamakh, who joined the club back in 2010 on a free transfer from Bordeaux, has been on the fringes of the first team squad since the 2011-12 season. The Moroccan international has made one start in the Premier League in the last two seasons for the Gunners. Chamakh was sent out on loan to West Ham during the second half of last season and this time he has been linked with Premier League new comers Crystal Palace. Ian Holloway is reported to be interested in signing the striker on loan from Arsenal, although the Gunners are only interested in a permanent deal. But both the clubs are expected to reach an agreement in the next few days.

Newcastle United have made positive progress in their pursuit of QPR striker Loic Remy, and they are also in negotiation with Aston Villa for the sale of Darren Bent.

The Magpies are in desperate need of a new strike force, as the future of Papiss Cisse seems to be uncertain. The Senegalese international is currently unsettled at the English club and is seemingly on his way out. They have already lost Demba Ba in the winter transfer window last season and could be left with just Shola Ameobi upfront if Cisse leaves this summer. But Newcastle director of football Joe Kinnear is confident of landing Loic Remy from QPR.

“Yeah I think very much, so I would like to think we are very, very close to agreeing that. I would think maybe Monday or Tuesday we will be a position to say yea or nay, but I am very happy about how that deal is going at the moment.” – Kinnear told the press.

Loic Remy joined QPR during the winter transfer window last season and has managed to put in some good performances during his short spell at the club. But that wasn’t enough to save QPR from relegation last season and it is believed that he is looking for a move away from the club as he wishes to play in a higher division. Remy would certainly be an exciting new addition to the Newcastle United squad. But he is not the only striker linked with the club at the moment. Aston Villa striker Darren Bent in on the radar and Kinnear as stated that they are currently in negotiation with Villa regarding the transfer of the Englishman.

“We were with Darren’s agent for two or three hours, we thrashed out a deal. We are still in negotiations with Aston Villa so there is a really strong possibility there.“

“Again I hear the latest is that somebody else has all of a sudden shown interest in the player so we have competition from various clubs around the country, but I am not letting go.“

“These are players that me and Alan [Pardew] have spoken about. These are players that we’ve all agreed at the club are the type of player we want to bring to Newcastle.” – Kinnear added.

Although Bent has good goal scoring record in the Premier League, Newcastle United will be taking a big risk in buying him. The 29-year-old’s disciplinary record and injury worries means the Magpies will have to consider a lot of factors before signing him.